Indefatigable sub-class
The Indefatigable sub-class of the Constitution class heavy cruiser lineage was a Starfleet Class One starship which consisted of forty vessels constructed from 2263 and entering service from 2267. They were effectively a fourth batch of Constitution-class ships with additional weaponry from the Achernar sub-class specifications but no further hardware, software, or equipment changes. The first new ship constructed to these specifications was heavy cruiser hull number 1760, named the Indefatigable, thus giving the sub-class her name. Further confusing the naming convention was the refitting of various other ships of various previous sub-classes with this additional weaponry, thus classifying them as Indefatigable sub-class as well. These ships were alternately known by the following designations: * Indefatigable sub-class * Achernar sub-class Batch 2 * Constitution-class Batch 4 * Constitution-class Mark III Class History Due to the increasing Klingon belligerence through the late 2250s and into the 2260s, and with Klingon battlecruiser production remaining at full bore, Starfleet Command began to fear a disparity in heavy fleet units with the Imperial Navy. Starfleet Intelligence reports indicated that the Klingons now fielded easily over one hundred of their Klolode-class D-7 battlecruisers and well over two hundred and possibly even three hundred Raxor-class D-6 battlecruisers, which continued in production alongside their more capable brothers. Starfleet had to this point amassed under fifty of their excellent Constitution-class heavy cruisers, but had no "second string" cruiser class in any large numbers, only a mixed-bag collection of oversized heavy frigates such as the tough and reliable Surya class and under-armed light cruisers such as the still high-quality Coventry class. With the Achernar sub-class heavy cruisers having been reduced in numbers to a mere twelve ship-appropriation from the hoped for sixty-eight, Starfleet had compromised with attempting to create a "combat enhanced" Constitution class ship in the Great Britain-class battlecruisers. However, these ships had also only been granted a pittance of appropriations for fifteen vessels. By 2263 incidents with the Klingons were steadily ramping up, if not yet coming thick and fast, and Starfleet had already experienced what would happen next. Determined not to repeat the mistakes of history, and fully armed with intelligence reports and historical background of barely twenty years earlier, the Starfleet Operating Forces Staff Committee (SOFSC) succeeded in wringing appropriations for another forty Constitution class heavy cruisers from the Federation Council's purse strings. To save in cost and complexity they would be virtually unchanged from the still building Achernar sub-class, would not utilise the differing configuration of the Great Britain, and would instead merely add additional weaponry to the existing Achernar specifications. Construction began in 2263 and around half of the class was completed and the other half at an advanced state of construction when the Klingons once again went to war with the United Federation of Planets at the end of 2267. That the Organians stopped the war cold after only two days could never have been foreseen, but Starfleet had given a good account of itself during those two days. Thanks to their being more multi-role heavy cruisers rather than battlecruisers, the ships of the Indefatigable sub-class were readily accepted into the Fleet. Also, with the loss of both the U.S.S. Constellation and the U.S.S. Intrepid within the same month of May in 2268 two of the Indefatigable sub-class ships still under construction were renamed U.S.S. Constellation II and U.S.S. Intrepid II to honour those ships and keep their legacy alive. Both were completed in 2269. Class Comparison Primary among the minimal differences that the Indefatigable sub-class introduced were: * Two aft-firing phasers mounted on the secondary hull above the shuttle bay doors * A rear-firing photon torpedo tube mounted between the impulse engine heat exhaust ports Members of the Class * U.S.S. Ark Royal NCC-1791 * U.S.S. Constellation II NCC-1728 * U.S.S. Defiant NCC-1764 * [[U.S.S. Indefatigable, Constitution class|U.S.S. Indefatigable]] NCC-1760 * U.S.S. Intrepid II NCC-1730 * U.S.S. Kaga NCC-1780 * U.S.S.'' Kongo'' NCC-1710 Category:Starfleet Ship Classes